NBA Draft: Lakers may consider selecting Joel Embiid if available

As the Lakers continue conducting pre-draft workouts, their seventh overall selection on Thursday may not hinge on vertical jumps, drills or interviews.

It could depend on Kansas center Joel Embiid, who once was considered the Cleveland Cavaliers’ first overall pick of the 2014 NBA Draft. With Embiid undergoing surgery to treat a stress fracture in his right foot, his draft stock could plummet while forcing other teams to weigh his long-term potential and uncertain health.

The Lakers would consider selecting Embiid should he become available, according to a person familiar with the Lakers’ thinking. But such an idea would hinge on Embiid’s recovery.

The Lakers are mindful of the risk in selecting Embiid considering his recent back injury and his current foot fracture. But they are also aware of Embiid’s upside, with various draft experts likening him to Hall of Famer center Hakeem Olajuwon.

It is unclear what parts of Embiid’s recovery would make the Lakers feel comfortable in picking him, assuming he stays undrafted before the seventh pick.

Either way, other draft prospects already sensed how Embiid’s injury could produce a domino effect.

“It makes it a little bit less predictable,” said Arizona freshman forward Aaron Gordon, who was one of five prospects to work out with the Lakers on Friday at the team’s practice facility in El Segundo.

Gordon said he had heard the Philadelphia 76ers want to host him for a workout. With the Sixers having the third overall pick, top prospects such as Duke’s Jabari Parker and Kansas’ Andrew Wiggins could become unavailable.

After completing his second workout in the past month with the Lakers, Oklahoma State guard sophomore Marcus Smart spoke briefly with reporters before leaving for a plane to Philadelphia for a workout.

Instead, the prospects stayed intent on creating a lasting impression with the Lakers.

Smart and Gordon already have, working out for the Lakers for the second time in the past month. The Lakers are impressed with Smart’s 6-foot-2, 227-pound frame, which would give them a physically strong guard who could give them insurance in case Steve Nash struggles in his recovery from a back injury that sidelined him for all but 15 games last season.

The Lakers are intrigued with Gordon’s versatility in playing and defending at both forward positions.

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“Since I’ve been with the Lakers and now, I’ve gotten better as a player,” said Gordon, who said he has tweaked his mechanics to improve his 42.2 percent mark last season from the foul line. “I have all the tools. It’s just sharpening my tools and making peace with myself.”

Michigan junior guard Nik Stauskas, Louisiana-Lafayette junior guard Elfrid Payton, South Carolina State junior forward Matthew Hezekiah and P.J. Hairston of the Texas Legends in the D-League were the other prospects that worked out with the Lakers on Friday. Stauskas appears most likely among those players to become a top-10 pick. He shot 44.2 percent from three-point range last season with the Wolverines.

“I offer a skill set not many people have, with an ability to shoot it, put it on the floor and create for others,” said Stauskas, who canceled his first workout with the Lakers because of an injured right shoulder that he says has since healed. “Offensively, there’s not many people who can do what I do.”

There are also very few people who can do what Embiid does, making him an intriguing wild-card for the Lakers’ draft plans.

“It’s very very unfortunate for him,” Gordon said. “But he’s going to be a big-time player.”